Host:Graduate School of Fundamental Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Heidelberg

Description:Kolloquium der 39. Heidelberger Graduiertentage - Hans Jensen Invited Lecture
Following LIGO's discovery last year of a gravitational-wave signal from a pair of merging black holes, it was suggested that such black holes might make up the cosmic dark matter. The idea was supported by a remarkable coincidence between the merger rate implied by LIGO and the rate at which such black holes should merge, if they were to make up the dark matter. In this talk, I will review this proposal, discuss an array of current and future astrophysical tests of the scenario, and the current status. The talk will cover a range of topics of current interest including (in addition to dark matter and gravitational-wave astrophysics) early-Universe cosmology, galactic dynamics, microlensing, and astrophysical transients.